Creative Commons

If a piece of content on this website—fakemon, fake moves, fake abilities, whatever—carries a Creative Commons image on its page, it is available for free use under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0). You must credit this website as the original creator and you cannot sell what you create, but yes, you may use it. Please read this whole page to be sure you understand what the license means; once you've done that, a list of all available CC-licensed content is available at the bottom. Read first, though!

What does this mean?

It means that you are free to use any of that CC-licensed content for almost anything you wish—a fangame, a forum RPG, a fanfic, whatever—so long as you give credit to Phoenixsong and/or the Phoenixdex with a visible link to this website (phoenixdex.alteredorigin.net). It also means that you cannot not use any of it for commercial purposes, for example putting it in a product you plan to sell or any advertisements for such a product, although I imagine Game Freak would have something to say about it if you did anyway. You do not have to ask me for permission first; you can just use it, and you can make any changes you need to make, although you should make it clear that you did change something from the original; along these lines and the credit requirement, you cannot claim that you yourself are the original creator. You do not have to make your remixed version of the content available under the same license (although I will think you are an especially-awesome person if you do); it's allowed to be for your stuff only, if that's what you'd like.

You can find a summary of the CC-BY-NC license here, and the full text of the license here. You are advised to read both of them in full before using any of this site's content; if something happens as a result of not understanding its terms, I'm afraid that's not my problem.

I can't require this under the terms of the license itself, but I also request that you don't link directly to any of my images—save them to your computer first, then upload them to your own site/an image hosting service. (You can link to the page to show people where you got it; just don't hotlink the image itself.)

I would also really appreciate it if you would not use any of this content for anything that promotes violence, hate, discrimination, etc.. I realize that that's unlikely anyway, but I figure it's best to be clear on that. Use these fakemon to spread fun and awesomeness, not hate, please!

You must also understand that this license applies to everyone. You are not being granted exclusive use of this content; you cannot tell other people that they are not allowed to use it because you're using it. Certainly I'm going to keep using it. If you use this content then your project is just going to have to share pieces with both the Phoenixdex itself and with anyone or anything else using it, and you need to accept that before agreeing to use the work under this license. If you want fakemon/moves/abilities/etc. that are unique to your project, you're going to have to make them yourself or find them elsewhere.

Obviously I cannot give you permission to use any actual canon Pokémon, moves, abilities, items or even concepts, and these things are not CC-licensed unless someone at Nintendo or Game Freak suddenly flies in and says it's okay. That's a risk that anyone takes when they create fanwork, though.

Really?

Yes, really. I used to be adamant about MY STUFF being MY STUFF, NO TOUCHING, but honestly, what's the harm in sharing? It seems like it would make people happy, and it's cool to see how many people enjoy what I've created. I'm curious to see what they might do with it, really! I think that as time has gone by I've grown to appreciate the things that people can do with ideas first laid down by others. It's a huge part of the nature of fanwork itself, after all, and is central to why I still enjoy the Pokémon franchise after all these years. If I can get all of this enjoyment out of expanding the canon Pokémon and their world, why should I deny other people the enjoyment of expanding on mine?

I still think there's a lot of merit in creating your own fakemon for your own projects rather than using someone else's, mind you. It's just fun to go through the process of conceptualizing and planning and designing (and possibly drawing/painting/spriting, if you're comfortable with artwork), and in the end you have something that is uniquely yours and tailor-made to fit your project rather than the same things that everyone else is using. I would strongly encourage you to do at least some of your own creative work, but you can use the CC-licensed content on this site regardless.

This doesn't mean, for the record, that I think that every fakemon creator should CC-license their stuff, or that all artists in general should (especially not if their career or livelihood is involved). I mean, yeah, it'd be pretty cool if we could all share each others' stuff as a community of fans, but it's hardly a requirement. Art and creative work are deeply personal things, and if an artist isn't comfortable open-licensing their work, they don't have to. Kindly respect other artists' decisions and don't try to use their work if they've stated somewhere that they aren't open to sharing it, and if they haven't said anything either way, please ask them for permission first.

What about content that doesn't have that image/isn't in the list below?

If a page does not have the CC license image on it, then it is not available under the license and you must ask me for permission to use it.

Can I redraw a fakemon I'm using for my project, or create a sprite of it? Can I make a new evolution/baby/form/Mega Evolution of it? Can I change anything about the stuff I use?

Of course. You're free to redraw, reprogram or otherwise remix any content you use, so long as you make it clear that you've made changes from my original.

There's an older image of one of your fakemon available. Can I use that instead of the current one?

Sure, although since the reason I'm not using it anymore is most likely because it's terrible/doesn't match the current concept, I'm not sure why you'd want to.

Can I use fanwork that someone else made of your fakemon?

Not without the original creator's permission, no. This includes any fanwork at the bottom of any page—those pieces are not included in the CC license that applies to the fakemon/concept itself.

Can I use your fakemon stuff that I found somewhere else if it isn't on this site? What about an image you've done for someone else?

Again, if there's no CC license image on it, permission is required. Doesn't matter where you originally found it.

I don't have permission to allow you to use someone else's fakemon, even if I happen to have drawn some artwork for it. Ask the person it actually belongs to, and don't be surprised if they say "no".

What if I want to draw fanart/create other fanwork of your stuff?

You don't need permission for that, either, and you don't even really need to worry about the license itself, although credit of some sort for the original work is still required. You are also permitted to create fanwork of something that is not CC-licensed, like a character, again as long as you provide credit. Feel free to show me the fanwork when you're done!

Someone else is using your work under this license. Can I use what they've done with it?

The CC-BY-NC license does not include a "share alike" clause—that is, it does not require people who use CC-licensed work to also make their work available under this or any license. I would certainly encourage people who use this stuff to share it, but they don't have to. If this other person or group has put an open license on it or otherwise granted permission then yes, you can use it as long as you follow their terms. If they have not granted permission, however, then you'll need to ask them. If they say "no", respect their wishes and use the content direct from here instead.

What about the stuff on the Pokémon Turquoise forums and website, since those are partially your projects? What if it's one of the same fakemon/moves/etc. that's on the Phoenixdex?

Turquoise's fakemon, moves, abilities, etc. are not available for use by anyone without the Turquoise Staff's permission. Not even if it's similar to any Phoenixdex content. Consider Turquoise a site that is also using this content under the license and has not chosen to make its version of that content available for public use.

There's very little meaningful difference between the Phoenixdex and Turquoise versions of most things anyway, so really, you're better off just getting it from here.

Since I'm using your stuff, can you help me with my project/advertise my project?

No. I don't have time to help other people with their fakemon stuff, even if it is based on mine, and part of the CC license states that you are to be responsible for any work you create with things you use under the license. Your project is not my responsibility, and anything that goes wrong with it is not my responsibility. You're welcome to do just about anything with the CC content, but once you decide to use it, you're on your own. You must give me credit as the content's original creator, but you cannot claim that I am associated with your project or your changes to my content in any way.

As for linking to your project or otherwise advertising it, I'm only going to want to tell people about something that I myself am actively interested in, or that I'm sure they would be actively interested in. Feel free to shoot me a link to your work because I am curious about what people will do with this stuff, but I'd appreciate it if you didn't ask me to do any advertising. If I genuinely like it, I'll probably want to spread the word about it on my own anyway.

What if I've asked you about using your fakemon before, and you told me "no"?

Everyone is allowed to use Creative Commons content, for free, forever. So, yes, you are allowed to use any of the CC content on this site (provided you follow the terms), even if I've previously said that you couldn't. It was nothing personal when I said "no" before; it's simply that I wasn't as comfortable with sharing as I am now. Go ahead!

Canon move and ability data courtesy of veekun, with some details from Bulbapedia.

Some content is marked as available for free use under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC-BY-NC); see here for a list of this content and more information about appropriate use.

Any content that is not clearly marked with the Creative Commons license icon/that is not listed on the aforementioned page is not available for free use. Contact Phoenixsong for permission if you wish to use this content.